Flour-packing device.



B. D.,J. N. & C. V. COOK.

FLOUR PACKING DEVICE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-2|. 191s.

Patented Aug. 28, 1917.

5 I??? 150 ro- 2%.). v 3/ v KTNKTED PATENT @FFEQE.

BORDEN D. COOK, JOHN l\T. COOK, AND CHARLES V. COOK, OF SEATTLE,VTASHINGTON.

FLOUR-PACKING DEVICE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ari 28, 191*.

Application filed September 21, 1916. Serial No. 121,445.

T all whom it may concern Be it known that we, BORDEN D. COOK JOHN N.Coon and CHARLES V. Coon, citizens of the United States, and residentsof a Seattle, in the county of King and State of *ashington haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Flour-Packing Devices,of which the following is a full, true, and exact specification.

Our invention relates to tlour packing devices and more particularly todevices for filling flour sacks whether paper or cotton, and has for itsprincipal object to provide an improved and novel device for packing anddischarging the flour in a solid and continuous core; to provide amultiple stage packing screw; to provide means which form a layer ofloose and tluti'y flour between the core and the sack. Heretofore, inpacking flour mill products in bags and the like. it has beencustoi'nary to either surround the bags with a rigid casing and thenpack the bag full of flour, sew up the bags and remove them from therigid casing or to simply pack the flour directly into the bags astightly as possible without breaking the bag. Xeither or these processesget the flour into as small a volume as is desirable from a standpointof economy of space required in shipping and in material necessary forsacks. Furthermore. the sacks are frequently filled too full or toohard, so that upon handling a large percentage of sacks break with theresult of a loss of flour. Ap-

' plicants device is designed to compress the ilour into a hard andcompact core which is somewhat smaller in diameter than the sack and tothrust the core into the sack and at the same time providing means forexpanding an outer layer to form a cushion between the core and sackwith loose and tlutty flour and to thereby prevent breakage of sacks andto effect a large saving in material for sacks and economy in space forshipping and handling. Applicant-s device may be either attached orbuilt into any one of a number of flour packing devices now on themarket or may be built in the form of a new machine. The device asherein illustrated has been in actual use for a period of several monthsin a large flour mill and has proven successful in every way with theadvantages as set forth above.

Other objects will appear as our invention is more fully explained inthe following specifications, illustrated in the accompanying drawingsand pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings Figure l is a plan view of our device. Fig. 2 is acentral cross section of same.

Referring more particularly to the drawings which illustrate only thepacking cylinder and do not include means for operating the shaft whichis common to all such devices. numeral 1 indicates a circular hopperwhich is connected to a tubular packing cylinder 2 by means of a taperedsection 3. Cylinder is further reduced in diameter by means of a taperedinner tube 4r which terminates in a straight portion The inner tube 4 isplaced within the cylinder 2 and projects slightly below the bottom ofcylinder The space between the inner and outer cylinder at the bottom ofthe cylinder is closed by means of a ring 6. A shaft 7 passes centrallythrough the device and is provided with packer heads 8, 9, and 11., allof which are secured to the said shaft. The packer heads are oi?diameters which correspond with their position in the packing tube. Allof the packing heads are in the "tor-in of helical blades and are ofvarying pitch, those nearest the bottom of the casing being ot the lessdiameter and less pitch, with the result that the tlour as it passes tothe heads from the hopper 1 is discharged from the packer head 8downward to the packer head 9 which takes the flour to its first stageof packing and passes it toward the packer head 10 with an additionalcompression. The packer 10 gives the flour a further compacting andpasses it to the last packer 11 which further packs the flour anddischarges it in the form of a hard and compact core. It will be notedthat be tween the packers 10 and 11 the diameter of the flour core isreduced by means of a tapered portion i. The packers act in much thesame way as the multiple stage centrifugal pump unit in that eachsuccessive packer takes the flour under a certain amount of pressure anddelivers it at a still greater pressure. The packers and the shaft 7 arecontinuously revolved by any power means. A sack 13 fits over thepacking cylinder 2 and the "flour core is discharged directly into it.As the core moves downward it carries the sack with it. As the coreleaves the sharp edges of the inner casing 5 a thin outer layer isspalled off from the core of flour and expanding up ward within theofiset 1st outside of inner tube 5 and below ring 6 forms a soft andfluffy layer which fills the space between the core of flour and thesack. This action is much the same as that of a stream of water underhigh pressure flowing through a sharp edged orifice in that the instantrelease of the confining pressure allows the outer film to separate fromthe main body of the stream. Our device has proven very successful andeconomical in actual operations and has replaced modern packers of othertypes. 6 further find that a given weight of flour can be packed in aconsiderably smaller sack with our packer than with others, with theresult that a saving in sack material is accomplished. o further haveless breakage of sacks due, we believe, to the soft layer of flour whichis interposed between the hard core and the sack, due also to the factthat we pack the flour within the tube and not against the sides of thesack. Other appliances provide for the sack receivin g the stress of thepacking which often causes the sack to split.

While we have shown a particular form of embodiment of our invention, weare aware that many minor changes therein will readily suggestthemselves to others skilled in the art without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention, and we therefore desire to avoidbeing limited to the exact form shown and described. Having describedour invention, what we claim as new and desire to protect by LettersPatent, is

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a packingcylinder, a plurality of packer heads within said cylinder and means forforming an envelop of soft material around a compact core of material asit discharges from the packing cylinder, whereby when the said core isdischarged into a sack, a layer of soft material is placed between thesaid core and the sack.

2. In an apparatus for packing powdery materials into receptacles, thecombination of a cylindrical packing case terminating in a sharp edgedorifice at its lower end, an annular offset adjacent the lower edge ofsaid packing case and a series of multiple stage packing heads revolublymounted within said packing case, whereby the'material to be packed isformed. into a hard and continuous core.

3. In an apparatus for packing powdery materials into receptacles, thecombination of a cylindrical outer packing case, a tapered inner casingwithin the said outer casing the lower end of said inner casingprojecting slightly beyond the lower end of said outer casing, wherebyan ofi-set is formed between the lower ends of said casings, areceptacle which fits slidably over the said outer casing, a multiplestage graduated series of spiral packer heads mounted upon a commonshaft which passes centrally through the said casings, whereby thepowdery material is packed and further compressed by' each successivepacker head and is finally discharged from the lowest head in the formof a continuous hard core, of smaller diameter than the receptacle intowhich it is discharged, the outer film of said core being spalled off asit leaves the inner casing and forming a soft layer between the saidcore and the said receptacle.

BORDEN D. COOK. JOHN N. COOK. CHARLES V. COOK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

